Current Affairs
Current Affairs July 2018

The 3rd BRICS Film Festival took place in Durban, South Africa, along with the International Durban Film Festival (DIFF). The last day of the festival (27th July) was celebrated as India Country Day, followed by Awards and Closing Ceremony. The film festival is aimed at celebrating world-class film productions from the BRICS nations with the objective of inspiring more collaboration from these nations.

Awards won by Indian films in the 3rd BRICS Film Festival, Durban, South Africa:

Best Actress: Bhanita Das, Village Rockstars,

Best Film: Newton by Amit Masurkar,

Special Jury Award: Village Rockstars by Rima Das.

The festival screened four Indian Films in the following category:
(a) Films in Competition Section:

The United States has eased export controls for high-technology product sales to India by elevating its status to a Strategic Trade Authorisation-1 (STA-1) country. The information was shared by US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. With the move, the United States has granted India the same access as NATO allies, Australia, Japan and South Korea.

Paytm Payments Bank CEO Renu Satti has resigned from the role and will now head Paytm's new retail initiative. Paytm will look for a replacement for Satti, who had taken over the CEO role last year. In the past, Satti has built businesses ground up that include market place, movie ticketing and most recently Paytm Payments Bank.

What is Paytm's "New Retail Model"?
Under its 'New Retail' model, consumers will soon be able to discover nearby pharmacies, groceries and other shops to place an order and get instant deliveries.

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) announced the appointment of Surendra Rosha as Chief Executive Officer for HSBC India, subject to regulatory approvals. Rosha succeeded Jayant Rikhye. Rosha, who is currently HSBC’s Head of Financial Institutions Group (FIG) for Asia-Pacific, has 27 years of experience in the financial services sector. He began his career in financial services when he joined HSBC’s India operations in 1991.

The first Nepal-India Think Tank Summit has begun in Kathmandu to foster greater collaboration and knowledge-sharing among the think tanks of the two countries. The summit is being jointly organized by the Asian Institute of Diplomacy and International Affairs and Nehru Memorial Museum Library. Former Prime Minister of Nepal and Co-chairman of ruling Communist Party of Nepal, Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda inaugurated the summit. The main objective of the summit is to strengthen bilateral relations between India and Nepal through multi-faceted collaboration among think-tanks in both the countries.

Acclaimed Bengali writer Ramapada Chowdhury, whose story 'Abhimanyu' was made into a Hindi movie 'Ek doctor ki maut', passed away. Chowdhury was 95. He was conferred the Sahitya Academy award for 'Bari badle jay' in 1988. He was also the recipient of Rabindra Puraskar, Ananda Puraskar and Rabindranath Tagore Memorial International Prize. His last book, 'Harano Khata' was published in 2015.

Rajasthan Government signed an MoU with a private trust Sohanlalji Buladeviji Ojha Gaushala Samiti to build its first 'Cow Sanctuary', a shelter for 10000 cows. The cow sanctuary will be spread over an area of more than 220 hectares in Bikaner district. This will be the first cow sanctuary in Rajasthan and will be situated in Bikaner’s Napasar.

Actress Kangana Ranaut and Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh launched a smartphone distribution scheme called 'Mobile Tihar' under Sanchar Kranti Yojna. The scheme includes distribution of smartphones to 45 lakh women and 5 lakh children, and setting up of 556 new mobile towers. The Chhattisgarh government is working towards improving network connectivity and empowering youth with smartphones.

India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) is expected to go live with 650 branches in addition to 3,250 access points co-located at post offices in August, 2018 following final clearance from Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to start. RBI has given approval to IPPB after testing its entire system.

Key Facts

IPPB was incorporated on August 17, 2016 under Companies Act, 2013 as a public limited company with 100% Government of India equity under Department of Posts (Ministry of Communication & Technology). It was the third entity to receive payments bank permit after Airtel and Paytm. Around 11,000 gramin dak sevaks (in rural area) and postmen (in urban area) will provide doorstep banking services. IPPB also has been given permission to link around 170 million postal savings bank (PSB) account with its account. It will also carry out RTGS, NEFT, IMPS transaction that will enable IPPB customers to transfer and receive money from any bank account.

Payments Bank

Payments bank is new model of banking allows mobile firms, supermarket chains and others to cater to banking requirements of individuals and small businesses to further enhance financial inclusion. It will be set up as differentiated bank and will confine its activities to acceptance of demand deposits, remittance services, internet banking and other specified services but cannot undertake lending services. Payments bank can accept deposits maximum up to Rs 100,000 per account from individuals and small businesses. They can issue ATM/debit cards but not credit cards and can also issue other prepaid payment instruments. They also can distribute non-risk sharing simple financial products like mutual funds and insurance products.